What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis is a deep state of relaxation with an acute focus. You actually go through hypnosis when you fall asleep and when you awaken. Everyone can be hypnotized. However, you have to be a willing participant. Hypnosis cannot make you do anything or say anything you would not want to.
Hypnotherapy is a form of psychotherapy used to create change in a patient while in a state of sleep, or unconsciousness, known as hypnosis. The word hypnosis comes from the Greek word “hypnos” which simply means, “sleep.” The therapy itself uses guided relaxation techniques that invoke feelings of intense relaxation, concentration, and/or focus to achieve a heightened state of awareness or trance-like state.
The therapy is commonly used as an aid to psychotherapy due to the relaxed nature brought on by the hypnotic state that allows people to explore painful and suppressed feelings and emotions or memories that are often hidden from their conscious minds. This change in consciousness can often lead patients to experience things differently outside of hypnosis, such as criticism at work or home, stage fright, or even pain.
Being under hypnosis is said to allow a person to be more open to both suggestion and discussion when the patient trusts the hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy has been used to treat a wide range of conditions or unwanted behavior, such as:
- Stress/Anxiety
- Smoking cessation
- Weight loss
- Fears/Phobias
- Sleep disorders
- Depression
- Study Habits
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Grief and loss of loved ones
